An Okie teacher banished to the Midwest.
"Education is not the filling a bucket but the lighting of a fire."-- William Butler Yeats

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Let us now praise brave actions...

in Connecticut, where they've filed a lawsuit decrying NCLB as an "unfunded mandate." Way to go, y'all! Basically, they're asking Dubya and his pals to put up, or shut up.

Preferably, the shut up part.

Fork over the cost of say, a bunker-buster bomb, and get out of my way! Oh. but the nattering nabobs of NCLB say, "Throwing MONEY-- filthy lucre, whatever you want to call it-- around won't solve the problem!" Yeah, but it might make sure there are texts in the hands of all kids on the first day of school-- there's a frill for ya. Interesting how money can't solve the problems of education but it can solve the heartache of millionaires who want to use my tax money to help defray the cost of their kids' private school tuition....

How about if I rename my high school after Halliburton? Okay to throw money around there, right?

What's On the Bookshelf? (And stacked on the floor, and in the loo, and next to my bed, and in my backpack....)

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace

The Stripping of the Altars, by Eamonn Duffy

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling

Wishful Drinking, by Carrie Fisher

The Big Over Easy, by Jasper Fforde

Columbine, by Dave Cullen

The Forever War, by Dexter Filkins

Here, Bullet, by Brian Turner

Random Thoughts

"Read-ity read read read."-- The Ramblin' Educat

"Personally, I think for democracy to exist, opposition is key. History seems to bear that out. One sign you're doing a good job is when the only argument the extablishment can muster is "shut up" and variations on that theme.-- NYC Educator

"The only thing worse than having no taste is having no shame."-- via Mamacita

"The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse is because you cannot post "Thou Shalt Not Steal, Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery & Thou Shall Not Lie" in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment."-- Molly Ivins (via Mike in Texas!)

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."-- Dean Wormer, Animal House

"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts."-- John Steinbeck